Novak told the Russian Energy Week forum in Moscow that Europe is keen to buy more gas from Russia despite pressure from the United States, which has been encouraging Europe to reduce its reliance on Russian gas

Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak also said, according to the agency, they had not prepared a scenario for a sharp increase in oil prices, which have recently reached a 4-year high of more than $85 per barrel

"Today, the situation is quite fragile, of course, and it is related to the fact that not all the countries have managed to restore their market and production," Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said at an economic conference in the Russian far eastern city of Vladivostok.

Russia used stocks held in tanks at its oilfields to help boost crude production in June, three industry sources told Reuters in July, in a sign of supply flexibility as OPEC kingpin Saudi Arabia pushes other major producers to increase spare output capacity

Russia would further raise production to 555 million tonnes in 2019 after the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and other oil producers led by Russia agreed last month to ease production curbs, said energy minister

European Commission Vice-President Maros Sefcovic, who chaired a three-way meeting in Berlin with Ukraine's Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin and Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak, said he hoped talks will continue with separate political and expert rounds every six to eight weeks

The expected drop in Iranian crude exports this year due to renewed U.S. sanctions, coupled with a decline in Venezuela's production and outages in Libya, Canada and the North Sea have driven oil prices to their highest since 2014 in recent weeks

A production rise of about 1 mbpd or around 1 percent of global supply was emerging as a consensus for the group and its allies, OPEC sources told Reuters, adding that Iran could agree under certain conditions.

Iran said on Tuesday OPEC was unlikely to reach a deal on oil output this week, setting the stage for a clash with Saudi Arabia and Russia, which are pushing to raise production steeply from July to meet growing global demand.

"The market is growing, (oil) demand is growing and we already see a balance in the market," he said. Novak did not say how much Russia may increase its production, adding that it depends on each company's capacity.